Cigarettes or e-cigarettes: Smoking is still popular, especially among young people in the Czech Republic

“Many of my friends in high school smoked cigarettes. It was mostly a social matter. So they went out smoking together and that made them part of the collective.”

This is how Aneta, who is now 19, reports on her experiences from her school days. The proportion of young smokers in the Czech Republic remains consistently high. This is also the result of a survey conducted by the Think Tank Racionální politiky závislostí (Rational Addiction Policies) among 1000 participants. Former anti-drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil can confirm this. He primarily observes the under-16 age group:

“This is the pivotal age when people start using legal drugs. This increases the risk of dependency eightfold. Ten percent of 15-year-olds in this country already smoke every day.”

However, a look at Europe as a whole shows a decline in the number of children and young people who drink alcohol, smoke or use other drugs. The reason given is that they spend less time outside and more time on social networks and on the computer. Nevertheless, Vobořil believes that they still use intoxicants far too often. A counter-strategy could be to shift the starting age:

“25 percent of the tobacco business in this country can be traced back to people under the age of 25. The largest proportion are those young people who made their first experiences with smoking before the age of 16. If this could be postponed to the age of 17, the risk for the young people would already be significantly reduced.”

Smoking often remains a lifelong habit. According to 2020 data, 25 percent of the adult population in the Czech Republic catches cigarettes on a daily or almost daily basis. Doctor and epidemiologist Viktor Mravčík summarizes that the number of smokers in this country is declining slightly. However, the following is a restriction:

“The decline is rather modest. If we then adapt the results to the changes in the age structure of the population, then this decline is hardly recognizable. And this despite all the measures that have been taken recently, such as warnings on tobacco products or the smoking ban in restaurants.”

The measures are only aimed at classic tobacco products, explains Mravčík. In his opinion, however, alternative products such as electronic cigarettes should also be included in appropriate campaigns and weaning concepts. According to the study by Racionální politiky závislostí, 35 percent of smokers in the Czech Republic have had experience with e-cigarettes. These alternative products are particularly popular among young people - which the doctor Mravčík sees as a positive development, because the human organism is less damaged than with classic cigarettes.

Alternative nicotine products are not only likely to become more popular in the Czech Republic. Their price will play a major role in this. And further Mravčík:

"The second decisive criterion is the extent to which smokers are informed about the relatively lower risk of these products compared to classic cigarettes."

Because e-cigarettes are still used less for health reasons and more because they are not so odor-intensive. And because they can be consumed in places where smoking is prohibited. When it comes to socializing, however, the electronic variant still does not come close to the classic fags, according to Aneta's observation:

“Over time, e-cigarettes, in which the tobacco is only heated, have also become more popular at our school. But most of my friends stuck with the classic cigarettes or rolling your own."